Wouxun 905G

[Meathead]

I've recently purchased a pair of the Wouxun KG 905G radios and I absolutely love them.  I have to say what attracted me to them was likely what would turn off many shoppers of GMRS HTs.  Specifically, the radios are simple.  No flashlight, no keypad, no color screen to get washed out in the sunlight, and no stupid orange buttons to forget what function you assigned to them.  I can lock in a channel and hand the radio to anyone with limited knowledge of radios and be confident they could easily communicate with others.  I've spent my entire adult life using radios.  I've spent more than 27 years in law enforcement and an additional 7 with a helicopter company where I set up and programmed hundreds of their handsets.  
The 905 may outwardly appear to be a slight step up from the blister-pack radio you would find in the sporting goods section of Walmart, but it's far from it.  You can add up to 256 custom channels in as many as 16 groups, it can handle split tones, has tone scan, and a screen with all the information you need at a glance.  It has an IP66 rating, and comes with a 2600mAh battery.  And it has a superheterodyne receiver.  I love the ability to organize my channels into groups which I can scan individually.  
This really is a great radio at a price that is under $100.  Don't pass on this one just because you think it may not have everything you're looking for.  It probably does.

[OSCAR-03]

Thank You for that review, I am excited to read it. I know there is a need for an easy to use radio for everyone who has no interest in the need to learn how to use the more complicated radios. I am talking about all the settings, controls and screen display information. It can be overwhelming for anyone new to using hand held radios. There is a real need for a good hand held radio for beginners.

Simple and straight forward is good. I have been considering an alternateve to what most are recommending for starter radios but have not put in the hours of research or dollars into it, maybe this is the answer. I would like to learn more and will consider offering this radio as an alternateve to the Baofeng or Radioddity models for a starter radio for newcomers at the GMRS radio class.

How are you programing them, CHIRP?

 

[Meathead]

These radios aren't short on features are not short on features and programming stations with the buttons is possible (although I haven't tried it).  I have downloaded the free software from Wouxun to program the radios and it appears to be as straightforward as CHIRP.  I have not yet used the software to add channels so this is really just my first impression.  
Randy's (NotARubicon) review: Wouxun KG-905G Review Of The New GMRS Walkie-Talkie Radio For 2021 From Wouxun and BuyTwoWayRadios (youtube.com)
I have been using the scan button regularly since the airwaves here in Sugar Pine seem to be rather empty.  A couple of things I don't lake about the scan are the fact it will not scan repeater channels, although it does scan 15-22.  Another frustration is when I do receive traffic, if I stop the scan, it won't open to the channel with the traffic, it opens to the channel I started the scan from.  
What I love about the radio are the groups.  I was not too familiar with grouping until I started working for the helicopter company and I absolutely love the ability to group channels and scan them independently.  By default, the first 7 channels are grouped, then the 7 low power channels (8-14) are in group 2.  Group 3 contains channels 15-22, and group 4 are repeater channels although I don't know what tones they utilize.  I can create up to 16 groups which I see useful for travel, separating repeaters by region.  
Another reason I chose this model is the battery is compatible with the KG-935Gplus.  And although both models are shipped with a 2600mAh battery with a C-charging port, a 3200mAh battery is also available (without the C port).  I think the Wouxun brand tends to be better than most of the other Chinese brands and I have plans to purchase additional HTs and a mobile unit in the future.  

[OSCAR-03]

Some of that information is new to me, about grouping. I will need to look into this some more.  Let me know your thoughts after you try the programing yourself. Maybe it will scan the repeaters after updating the programing.

[Meathead]

Grouping is actually quite useful.  The large majority of the helicopter company's customers were utility companies.  Each had their own business frequencies and we worked with dozens of companies.  I often did road trips that lasted a week or more and I would often deal with three or four of these contractors on one trip.  The grouping allowed me to easily find their frequencies.  The helicopter company had its own channels and they occupied group 1.  Our contractors were companies such as PG&E, WAPA, SMUD, Michels, PAR, etc..  Each of their channel sets were assigned a group and they included both simplex and repeater channels.  I would often drive to my new location and move to the group corresponding with the new customer.  I could scan the group for activity, or sometimes I would call the foreman to determine the specific channel.  If my pilot wasn't aware of the frequency, I'd move back down to group 1 and raise him on the air to let him know of the new channel and let him know I'd be switching to it.  The grouping on our radios made the work much easier as I didn't need to dial through hundreds of frequencies.  Instead, I'd toggle to the group I wanted and then often turned the dial two or three spots to get to the selected channel.  
You can see why grouping would be helpful during travel as well.  You could assign a geographical region's repeater channels into a group.  The 905g, like most other radios, will let you name the repeaters.  I don't think I've seen grouping on an HT before but it does make organizing your channels much easier.
BTW, I located in the users manual the statement, "Repeater channels (channel group 4) are removed from the scan list by default).  I'm presuming this is because you'll hear them on their corresponding GMRS simplex channel (15-22).  The scan feature does allow me to change settings.  The options are the scanning stops and pauses when a signal is detected, and resumes after 5 seconds of no activity, or, the scanning begins again immediately after the signal ends.  The first two options will send you back to the channel you were on when the scan started when you transmit or otherwise stop the scan.  In the third option, the scan starts and ends on the first channel where a signal is picked up.  The scanning immediately stops and the radio remains on the channel that had activity.  
 

[OSCAR-03]

Helpful information. I might only have/use a single group but it sounds like it makes things easier. Haven't priced out this radio yet, but will.